{"id":550667,"date":"2023-02-11T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-11T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/republicans-ramp-up-criticism-over-chinese-spy-balloon\/"},"modified":"2023-02-11T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-02-11T11:00:00","slug":"republicans-ramp-up-criticism-over-chinese-spy-balloon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/republicans-ramp-up-criticism-over-chinese-spy-balloon\/","title":{"rendered":"#Republicans ramp up criticism over Chinese spy balloon"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3b01c6d544b\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3b01c6d544b\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/republicans-ramp-up-criticism-over-chinese-spy-balloon\/#Republicans_ramp_up_criticism_over_Chinese_spy_balloon\" >Republicans ramp up criticism over Chinese spy balloon<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Republicans_ramp_up_criticism_over_Chinese_spy_balloon\"><\/span>Republicans ramp up criticism over Chinese spy balloon<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/china_balloon_navy_020723.jpg?w=900\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Republicans are ramping up their criticism of the Biden administration\u2019s handling of the Chinese spy balloon, after receiving classified briefings on the incursion and learning the U.S. shot down a second object above Alaska.<\/p>\n<p>While the Chinese balloon has obvious geopolitical significance, it also gave Republican lawmakers a political opening \u2014 and they\u2019ve taken it.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Before <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> of the second object broke, classified that briefings members of both chambers received this week seemed to do little to allay GOP frustrations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Republicans are publicly pressing the Biden administration for answers about its decision to allow the balloon to traverse the continental United States before shooting it down, and questioning what will h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>en when China tests the U.S. again in a similar fashion.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChina sent a spy balloon to fly all across America. The Biden administration had a chance to shoot it down over Alaska and they chose to let it spy all across America. End of story,\u201d Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) told reporters following an all-senators briefing on Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe administration doesn\u2019t want to commit to anything because they want the flexibility to do what I\u2019m sure they would have done here if some enterprising pilots and photographers hadn\u2019t spotted this balloon over Montana, let it go on its merry way, not tell Congress, not tell the American people, and certainly not shoot it down,\u201d Cotton added.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans doubled down on that criticism Friday afternoon after the White House announced that the U.S. military\u00a0shot down\u00a0a \u201chigh-altitude object\u201d flying over Alaskan airspace.<\/p>\n<p>Some GOP lawmakers are arguing it shows the U.S. did, indeed, have the capabilities to down the Chinese balloon im<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>tely. The object, according to White House national security spokesperson John Kirby, was smaller than the Chinese balloon and was flying at 40,000 feet, posing \u201ca reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight.\u201d\u00a0Officials do not yet know where it originated.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cSo we can shoot down suspicious objects BEFORE they get over our border\u2026 Just as I suggested,\u201d Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RogerMarshallMD\/status\/1624134672862089235?s=20&amp;t=EhH-rF-KL9Ow1lv72JcBjQ\">wrote on\u00a0Tw<\/a><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FRogerMarshallMD%2Fstatus%2F1624134672862089235%3Fs%3D20%26t%3DEhH-rF-KL9Ow1lv72JcBjQ&amp;data=05%7C01%7CRZilbermints%40TheHill.com%7Cc2d280347aee4513c82f08db0bb010d9%7C9e5488e2e83844f6886cc7608242767e%7C0%7C0%7C638116623042749332%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=6Lhj03oDS0BRsrlvSooTxdxPK%2FHrik4W6B4BECtUkfk%3D&amp;reserved=0\">itter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m trying to understand why this much smaller \u2014 by their own admission, much less capable \u2014 balloon with a much smaller payload was deemed such a threat that the other one wasn\u2019t,\u201d Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, told CNN in an interview. \u201cAnd it can\u2019t just be the altitude.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biden administration officials briefed House and Senate lawmakers behind closed doors on Thursday, providing more information on the decision to shoot down the balloon over the Atlantic Ocean after it <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">travel<\/a>ed from Alaska to Montana and all the way to South Carolina.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Biden this week said he ordered the Pentagon to shoot down the balloon\u00a0\u201cas soon as possible,\u201d\u00a0but national security officials determined that \u201cthe best time to do that was when it got over water.\u201d After the device was shot down, the U.S. military began a recovery effort to gather the debris.<\/p>\n<p>Most Republicans weren\u2019t convinced.<\/p>\n<p>A number of GOP senators leaving Thursday\u2019s briefing indicated they did not learn much from administration officials that they had not gleaned already from public news reports, and remained resolute that the balloon should have been taken out.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cI have a lot of unanswered questions,\u201d Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) said after Thursday\u2019s briefing, noting that the balloon hovered over a base housing intercontinental ballistic missiles in his state. \u201cThere will be more work to do in terms of what was in the sophistication in that Chinese spy balloon.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Pressed about his expectations for how the administration will handle a future balloon, Daines, who chairs the Senate GOP campaign arm, said he thought it would be \u201con a case-by-case basis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt depends on where the balloon is, it depends on whether we want to collect intelligence on it, it depends on the capabilities of the balloon,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr5_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Sen.\u00a0Lisa Murkowski\u00a0(R-Alaska), appeared visibly angry at a separate subcommittee hearing Thursday while questioning defense officials.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs an Alaskan, I am so angry. I want to use other words but I\u2019m not going to,\u201d she said. \u201cThe fact of the matter is, Alaska is the first line of defense for America, right? If you\u2019re going to have Russia coming at you, if you\u2019re going to have China coming at you, we know exactly how they come. They come up and they go over Alaska.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One notable exception, however, was Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who defended the Biden administration\u2019s handling of the situation.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr6_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cMy questions were satisfactorily answered and I believe the administration, the president, our military and our intelligence agencies acted skillfully and with care. At the same time, their capabilities are extraordinarily impressive,\u201d Romney told reporters after the briefing. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The situation was even more fraught in the House briefing, after which Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) boasted about how she\u00a0\u201cchewed out\u201d\u00a0administration officials. According to multiple lawmakers, Greene shouted obscenities and said \u201cI don\u2019t believe you\u201d at the briefers as they tried to explain why they waited for the balloon to reach the Atlantic coast.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI tore \u2018em to pieces,\u201d Greene said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr7_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>The House\u00a0unanimously passed\u00a0a resolution on Thursday condemning the Chinese Communist Party for floating the spy balloon over continental U.S., arguing that the mission was \u201ca brazen violation of United States sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some Republicans, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2023\/02\/06\/bipartisan-resolution-china-balloon-incursion-00081473\">according to\u00a0Poli<\/a>tico, initially sought to write up a resolution that criticized President Biden\u2019s handling of the situation, with the idea of potentially holding a vote hours before he was scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said he pushed for the measure to be bipartisan, underscoring the importance of sending a united message of disapproval to Beijing rather than highlighting Washington\u2019s division.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the resolution easily passing 419-0, some Republicans still tore into the administration during debate on the House floor.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0\u201cThe lack of response from this administration in my opinion was negligent,\u201d said Rep. Russell Fry (R-S.C.), who represents a district the balloon floated over. \u201cThis was a test by the Chinese Communist Party and it saddens me to say that the administration failed that test.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs this spy balloon approached Alaska, the response should have been crystal clear. It should have been shot down before it entered our skies. Instead the Biden administration waffled again,\u201d Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said. \u201cThey knowingly allowed a foreign military aircraft equipped with spyware to invade the U.S. sovereignty and navigate itself unimpeded across the country. putting the privacy of countless Americans at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Adding another dimension to the partisan squabbling is the nascent 2024 presidential battle as former President Trump sought to make political hay out of the situation. In a number of Truth Social posts, Trump claimed that the \u201cChinese would never have floated the Blimp (\u201cBalloon\u201d) over the United States if I were President!!!\u201d <\/p>\n<p>But reports have indicated that China flew multiple balloons over the U.S. during Trump\u2019s presidency, though they\u00a0were not de<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/02\/06\/us\/politics\/china-spy-balloon-trump-administration.html\">tected\u00a0at the time<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Across the aisle, Democrats have largely backed up the White House and the military\u2019s response to the balloon, arguing Beijing did not garner much information from the gargantuan device and that most of what they did procure, the U.S. knows about because they was able to monitor it and retrieve the intelligence after it landed in the ocean.<\/p>\n<p>Biden on Thursday tried to tame the growing controversy, telling Noticias Telemundo in an interview that the balloon was\u00a0\u201cnot a major breach,\u201d\u00a0likening it to other intelligence-gathering efforts across the globe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLook, the total amount of intelligence gathering that\u2019s going on by every country around the world is overwhelming,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>However, some still have plenty of questions and concerns. Specifically, what concerns them is the question of what\u2019s next.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis isn\u2019t the first incursion of U.S. airspace and it won\u2019t be the last by a balloon. There needs to be a plan moving forward,\u201d Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), a top Democratic target for the GOP in 2024, told reporters on Thursday. \u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of lines that need to be connected on the dots. \u2026 What did [the Chinese] get? And where\u2019d they get it? And what are we going to do when it happens again?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/house\/3853410-republicans-ramp-up-criticism-over-chinese-spy-balloon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republicans ramp up criticism over Chinese spy balloon Republicans are ramping up their criticism of the Biden administration\u2019s handling of the Chinese spy balloon, after receiving classified briefings on the incursion and learning the U.S. shot down a second object above Alaska. While the Chinese balloon has obvious geopolitical significance, it also gave Republican lawmakers&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":550668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/china_balloon_navy_020723.jpg?w=1280","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[134344,138157,30889,139529,4941,73014,90482,134843,137265,71445,52226,136649,139758,70464,139759,70289,134345,136923,4949],"class_list":["post-550667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-administration","tag-ann-wagner","tag-biden","tag-defense-national-security","tag-donald-trump","tag-health-care","tag-house","tag-john-kirby","tag-jon-tester","tag-lisa-murkowski","tag-marjorie-taylor-greene","tag-michael-mccaul","tag-michael-waltz","tag-mitt-romney","tag-roger-marshall","tag-senate","tag-state-watch","tag-steve-daines","tag-tom-cotton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}